A conventional apparatus for measuring dimension of an article is described in the Japanese Patent Publication No. 5-85004 published on Dec. 5, 1993. The conventional apparatus for measuring dimension of an article comprises X- and Y-transparent scale plates having marks for scales, a mount plate for placing a rectangular sheet article to be measured thereon, a light equipment for radiating light to the article placed on the transparent scale plates, and X-, Y- and origin image sensors for receiving light transmitted through the X- and Y-transparent scale plates.
In operation, the rectangular sheet article is placed on the mount plate, such that first and second orthogonal sides of the rectangular sheet article are positioned on inner portions of the X- and Y-transparent scale plates, and a vertex defined by the first and second orthogonal sides is positioned on an inner portion of a crossing area of the X- and Y-transparent scale plates. Then, light is radiated from the light equipment to the X- and Y-transparent scale plates, so that light transmitted through outer portions of the X- and Y-transparent scale plates and an outer portion of the crossing area is received by X-, Y- and origin image sensors. In accordance with output signals of the X-, Y- and origin image sensors, a position of the vertex defined by the first and second orthogonal sides of the rectangular sheet article, and positions of two other vertexes defined by the second side and a third side of the rectangular sheet article, and by the first side and a fourth side of the rectangular sheet article are determined relative to the scales of the X- and Y-transparent scale plates. Consequently, lengths of the first to fourth sides of the rectangular sheet article, lengths of diagonal lines of the rectangular sheet article and vertex angles of the rectangular sheet article are obtained in accordance with the calculation of using the positions of the three vertexes of the rectangular sheet article.
In the conventional apparatus for measuring dimension of an article, however, there are disadvantages in that, for instance, a distance between two arbitrary points on the rectangular sheet article is impossible to be measured, because the positions of the vertexes are detected by using the X- and Y-transparent scale plates, and any pattern defined on the rectangular sheet article can not be measured, even if the pattern is positioned in the vicinity of the first and second sides, because each of the X- and Y-image sensors can not discriminate the pattern from the marks for the scales due to the structure in which the rectangular sheet article is positioned directly on the X- and Y-scale plates.